Industry Insights

The global nonwoven filter media market size was USD 4.29 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 8.7% from 2016 to 2024. They are used as filtration media and are highly preferred in industries like automotive, healthcare, personal care, lighting, agriculture, textiles, and transportation. Rising consumer awareness regarding health and safety along with increasing environmental concerns pertaining to water and air pollution is expected to benefit the overall market growth.

Nonwoven filter media are cost-effective, easy to handle, and can be tailored made according to the requirements, and functions. They are preferred over cloths, paper, or other filtration media for their customization property. Advantages of these media over other filtrating membrane are their durability, with standing capacity to extreme temperatures, and high efficiency.

Developed countries such as the U.S., UK, Germany, and Japan are escalating their technologies to reuse water, improve its quality, and reduce the chance of water contamination. Such efforts will increase the demand for nonwoven media filtration systems over the forecast period.

Companies are investing in R&D to develop new technologies for increased efficiency and performance. For instance, Ahlstrom Corporation developed a new Ahlstrom Disruptor Technology for water filtration. It is electro adsorptive technology that uses ion exchange and electro adhesion for contaminant removal. It uses natural mineral fiber, which provides better filtration efficiency for sub-contaminant particle removal.

Emerging countries like India, China, and Brazil are taking major steps to control problems such as water and air pollution in the region. With the help of government, companies have begun investing on research & development activities for development of more efficient filters in the region. China National Material Technology Corporation developed a new technology which caters to the industry demand for high performance and low operating cost.

Technology Insights

Based on technology, the market is classified into spunbond, meltblown, wetlaid, needlepunch, and other technologies. Spunbond segment accounted for over 40% in 2015. Spunbond technology is mainly used in automotive, healthcare & personal care, and packaging. Spunbond media are light in weight, durable, have high liquid retention properties, and are cost-effective in nature.

Meltdown technology held the second largest share in the market in 2015 and is expected to register fastest growth rate of 8.3% during the forecast period. It is an efficient method for manufacturing fine & separating filter media from synthetic fibers. Its efficiency has facilitated the companies to setup advanced production lines. For instance, in 2012, Sandler, a German company, launched a new production line VS 61 for meltblown nonwovens that has capability to create new nonwoven structures for pleatable filter media.

Wetlaid is the second fastest growing technology segment over the forecast period. New advancements have been witnessed in this technology in terms of increased production rate. For instance. alumina coated micro-glass fibers, which were earlier difficult to produce by this manufacturing method, can now be manufactured using this method.

Application Insights

The growing demand for nonwoven filters in various applications are contributing towards its growing market size. Based on applications, the market is segmented into transportation, water filtration, HVAC, food & beverages, healthcare, manufacturing, advanced technology, and hydrocarbon processing. In 2015, transportation accounted for the largest share of 21.0%, followed by water filtration.

Advanced technology is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR of 8.9% over the forecast period. The advent of nanofibers is one of the key reasons propelling the demand for nonwoven filter media in this application segment.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific dominated the market demand in 2015. The large share of the region is due to the emerging countries like China and India that are focusing more on air & water pollution control, as well as on healthcare sector. Owing to this the use of filtration media is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2016 to 2024. Currently, China is the global leader in manufacturing and export of nonwoven medical products.

In the automotive sector, developed countries like the U.S, Germany, South Korea, and Japan are now rivaled by emerging economies like India, China, Brazil, and Russia. These countries show significant development in cost-effective and durable nonwoven filter media technologies.

North America and Europe witnessed moderate growth in nonwoven filter media market on account of stiff competition from alternative filtration sources. The U.S. is one of the major markets for nonwoven filter media owing to the highly industrialized economy. In 2015, the country accounted for a share of 69.4% of the North America nonwoven filter media market.

Europe was the second largest market in 2015, accounting for a global share of 29.3%. The demand for nonwoven filters comes from countries such as Germany, UK, and Italy. The market growth in Middle East is attributable to major hydrocarbon processing activities undertaken in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Global Nonwoven Filter Media Market Share Insights

Nonwoven filter media is characterized by the presence of major international players. The companies are trying to develop new technologies to achieve product differentiation. They are trying to increase their global presence by building efficient channels of distribution.

3M, Dupont Inc, Cummins Filtration, Honeywell Process Solutions, Pegas Nonwovens S.r.o., Kimberly-Clark Corporation are some of the major industry participants. Regional players have started using technologies such as S-TwinMB-S 2600 RF4s Compact Bico for low entry point market entry. This has facilitated the regional players to enter the market with low initial investment.